Ashley Rodriguez, who runs her blog Not Without Salt, demonstrates some delectable ways to make classic s'mores a bit more exciting, just in time to savor the last few moments of summer.
Her upcoming cookbook, Let's Stay In, is available on October 2, however, you can pre-order your copy online today.
For setting up the Ultimate S'more Bar:
Graham Crackers
Ashley's recipe down below for Homemade Speculaas Grahams is a great substitute for plain graham crackers, but she also suggests using chocolate chip cookies or snickerdoodles on your s'mores. For a salty/sweet combination, you can use saltines or Ritz crackers.
Chocolate
Instead of milk chocolate, Ashley recommends Theo Chocolate for exciting new flavors, or mixing it up with your favorite candy bars, like peanut butter cups or Kit Kats. Also experiment with white and dark chocolates.
Other additions
To really jazz up your s'more, add grilled or roasted fruit, fresh berries, jam, peanut butter, fresh bananas, Nutella, or caramel.
Marshmallows
Ingredients
adapted from Alton Brown
- 3 packages unflavored gelatin
- 1 cups cold water, divided
- 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
- 1 cup light corn syrup (or glucose)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds removed
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- Nonstick spray
Method
Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.
Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Add the vanilla seeds. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.
Combine the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Line a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with aluminum then spray with pan spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Speculaas Graham Crackers
From Let’s Stay In (Running Press, October 2018)
Both of my grandmothers always kept a box of windmill shaped spiced cookies in their cupboard. Their crisp bite and cozy (or gezellig as we say in Dutch) spices were so unlike the cookies I was used to. Here that familiar crispness and spice gets turned into a graham cracker which is the foundation for our roasted apricot s’mores.
Makes 2 dozen small graham crackers
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup/ 60 ml hot water
- 1 cup / 220 g dark brown sugar, packed
- 8 tablespoons/ 110 g butter, soft
- 1 1/2 cups (8 oz)/ 210 g all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz) / 60 g graham (or whole wheat) flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
In a small bowl combine the baking soda and hot water.
In a large bowl stir together the butter and the sugar until lightened, then add the baking soda mixture in and stir until well blended.
Whisk together the flours, salt and spices then add that into the butter mixture. Beat until combined.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm. The dough can be made 2 days in advance.
Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the dough into roughly 2x3 inch rectangles. I find a pizza cutter works best for this task. Any dough scraps can be rerolled and used again. Prick the crackers with the tongs of a fork a few times then add to a parchment lined sheet pan.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, until fragrant and darkened around the edges. Let the crackers cool on the sheet pan. They should be completely crisp once cooled.
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